Reflectionagainstselfchosengoals

Goalone:Givingeffectivefeedbackthatincreaseslearning

MyfirstgoalhasbeendevelopedfromanalysisofmymostrecentpracticuminRotorua.Thisgoalisto
giveeffectivefeedbackthatisrelatedtothelearningintentionandmotivatesthestudentstowards
improvedlearning.Thisgoalhasalsoinformedthetopicforanongoingresearchreportandliterature
review.Toachievethisgoal,Iwillbeguidedbymyresearch.Inherobservationsofmeteaching,Iwill
askmyassociateteachertonoticemyabilitytogivefeedbackandmakenotesonthis.Iwouldliketoset
regularaccountabilitycheckpointswithmyassociateteachertodiscussthisgoal.

27/06OneofthereadinggroupswereworkingonataskwheretheWALTwas:Wearelearninghow
differentfoodgroupshelpourbodies.Ihadnoticedthattobeingwith,myfeedbackwasmorerelatedto
howmuchworkthestudentshaddone,orhowwelltheywereworkingontask.After5minutesorsoofthis,
IrealisedthatIneededtobegivingfeedbackdirectlyrelatedtothelearningtask,asstatedabove.WhenI
begantoreadwhateachstudenthadwritten,Irealisedthatalotofwhattheyhadwrittenwasactuallynot
relatingtotheWALT.Somehadwrittenwhatfoodswereineachfoodgroup.WhenIbegantochallenge
andquestionhoweachfoodgrouphelpedourbodies,Ibegantoseethemgoingbacktothevideothey
werewatchingtofindthecorrectanswerstoachievetheWALT.Myresearchhasinformedthislevelof
feedbackwhichisspecificallyrelatedtothelearningtask.

14/07Ihavefoundthatmyfeedbackisbecomingmoreandmorefocusedonthelearningintention.My
nextareaforcontinuedimprovementistothenfollowthisupwithasuggestionofhowthestudentcan
improvetheirworktobecomeclosertoachievingthelearninggoal/intention.

04/08Ifeelthatthegivingoffeedbackiscomingnaturallytomenow.Ihavehadpositivefeedbackfrom
bothmyA.TandmyV.Ttosupportthis.Goingforward,Iwouldliketohaveanobservationcarriedoutby
myA.TwheresherecordsonlythefeedbackIamgivingtothestudentssoIhavesomehardevidenceto
addtomyresearch.ThemoreIplan,thebetterIunderstandthelearningtaskthathasbeenset.This
makesitmucheasiertomakemyfeedbacktargetingtothelearningintention,andalsofocusedonthe
nextstepsoflearning.AnotherimprovementIhadtomaketobeabletoachievethisgoalwastosharethe
learningintentionforeachlesson.Throughtheuseofmymodellingbook,Iamfindingthiseasyto
remember!

Belowissomeevidenceofmywrittenfeedbacktostudents:

Inoticedthatthisboyactuallyrepliedtomycommentinhispersonalwritingbook.Hiscommentsays
Charlotteyoureawesome.


IcouldntworkouthowtorotatethepictureitreadsIhavenoticedthatyouranswersareclosebutnot
quitecorrect.Iwonderifyoutryandworksloweryoumightgetmoreaccuracyinyouranswers.

Goaltwo:Formativeassessment

Mysecondgoalistousearangeofformativeassessmentsthroughoutunitsoflearningtoinformmy
planningtobestsupportstudentslearning.Iwouldbeinterestedinhavingdiscussionswithyoutoglean
fromyourmostsuccessfulmethodsofformativeassessment.Ihavecreatedapinterestboarddedicated
toformativeassessmentinordertogatheravarietyofideasthatIcanaddtomykete.

05/07InmymathslessonyesterdayIhadthechildrenwraparoundthecircletosharetheanswertotheir
fractionsum.Theyalsohadtocompleteasentencethedenominatorinmyfractionisand:the
numeratorinmyfractionisThiswasawaytoquicklydeterminewhohadunderstoodthelearningand
whohadnot.Ihavemadenotesinmyanecdotalrecordsbasedontheirabilitytodothis.

TodayIranakahootquizwhichtestedthechildren'sknowledgeofwherefoodcomesfromattheendof
theunit.Thechildrenwerethoroughlyengagedinthis.Theresultswerepresentedinacomprehensive
tablewhichshowedabreakdownofstatisticstoshowwhichquestionswereansweredcorrectlyandwhat
eachanswereachchildchose.Thisisafantasticassessmenttoolthatdoesntgivethestudentsthefeeling
ofdoingatest.Iwonderiftheresultsprovidedfromthisformofassessmentarebetterthanstandardised
testsbecausethereislesspressuretoperform?

22/07IwouldliketodevelopmorestrategiesthatIcanusetoestablishwhetherthestudentshave
achievedthelearningintention.Therearesomesubjectareasthatarehardertoassessthanothers.What
areTAKPsviewsonassessment?HowdoIknowifmyteachingcontentwasinlinewiththelearning
intention?Itisalwaysmyintentiontoplanverycloselytothelearningintentionsothatthechildrencansee
whatwearedoing...butIneedtobecontinuouslyrevisitingthisandassessingwhetherIwasteachingto
theLIordidIgetdistracted/offtask?Sometimesthisisokbecausethereisateachablemoment...butI


thinkthestudentsneedthereinforcementofseeingtheWALTwritteninfrontofthem.Ialsothinkthatasa
teacherIshouldbereferringtotheWALT/LIatleast2r3timesinoneteachingsession.

04/08ThisweekIhaveusedafewnewmethodsofformativeassessment.Earlierintheweek,Ihavethe
studentsverballysharewithmewhattheyhadlearnedfromsomeresearchtheyhaddone.Iwantedthem
tofirstlyrememberwhattheyhadread,andsecondlybeabletoputitintotheirownwords.Ithenrecorded
theirreflectioninthemodellingbook,whichbecamearecordfortheirwork,andaformofassessmentfor
metoreferbacktolater.
JusttodayIusedthemodellingbookforassessmentinmaths.Ihadthestudentswriteapredictionfora
measurementonthepagewiththeirname.Iamnowabletoseeveryeasilywhohasandwhohasnot
understoodtheunitofmeasurementdiscussionwehad.Thiswillbehelpfulafterweflythepaperdartsand
measurethedistance.Theywillbeabletoreferbacktotheirpredictionandcomparethetwonumbers.

22/08Finalsummary:
ThemodellingbookisamethodofrecordkeepingandformativeassessmentthatIwillcontinueintomy
professionalpractice.Itmarkedarealturningpointformeinmypracticum.Ifeelasifalloftheseparate
componentsofplanning,feedback,assessmentandrecordkeepinghavebeenpulledtogetherbecasuseof
thistool.Thenotesitookonmymodellingbookpagesendedupdirectlyinfluencing(andinforming)my
planning.IfeelasthoughIreallywasteachingtotheirneeds...whichfeedsintomythirdgoalbelow.Iwas
abletodifferentiatedependingonwhatgapsInotedthestudentshad.SometimesthismeantthatIwas
mixingtheabilitygroupsbecausetherewasaparticulargapthatsomestudentsinbothgroupshad.The
learningwasmuchmorerelevanttoeachstudentthen.

Goalthree:Differentiation

Myfinalgoalistoidentifylearningneedsofallkindsanddifferentiatemyteachinginstructiontocaterfor
theseneedsinthebestwaypossible.ThiswillrequirecarefulobservationskillsonmypartsothatIcan
adjustthelearningexperiencetoservicethegaps.

07/07IwassettinguptheporohitamathsgrouptoworkonanindependenttaskwhileIranaworkshop
withthetapatorugroup.Fromobservationintheworkshopyesterday,andmarkingtheirbooks,Icouldsee
whoneededlessscaffoldingfortheindependenttask.Isatthemalldownonthematandexplainedwhat
neededtobedoneforthetask.Ithenreleased4studentstoworkindependently,andIheldbackthose
thatIknewneededmoreworkonunderstandingthenumeratoranddenominatorinfractions.Ireleased
anothergroupwhowerereadytogo,andstillthereweresomewhowerenotsuresoIspentmoretime
workingwiththissmallgroupofstudents.Tome,thiswasdifferentiationbecauseIwasprovidingthe
supporttothosewhoneededitandIwasreleasingthosewhoweregoingtobebecomeboredfromthe
repetition.

14/07Thereare2girlsintheclasswhoareKoreanandspeaklittleEnglish.Rebeccaisbecomingagood
reader,butneedsmoresupportwithherwriting.WhenIwasdoingaoneoffwritinglessoninthelastweek
ofterm,Isatwithherandsupportedher.Ialteredthetasksoitwasntsoabstractwhichhelpedhertoget
started.